British Isle Cruise--Day 9

August 3, 2015—Day 9, Cobh, Ireland

As we entered the channel leading to Cobh, Ireland, I knew why the country was called the Emerald Isle—the countryside we passed by was beautifully green.  We passed several smaller isles off our starboard side, then turned and berthed port side to the dock.  Since our cabins are on the starboard side, we didn’t have a view of the town, but could look out over the channel to Spike Island. 

It was extremely windy out, and that wind was extremely cold!  A lot of the passengers had excursions booked to Cork or to Blarney Castle (in hopes of kissing the Blarney Stone), but we had already decided we would simply enjoy the port town of Cobh.  Cobh (which sounds like it's pronounced somewhere between “Cove” and “Cobe”) is a picturesque town clinging to hillsides down to the shore.  St Coleman’s Cathedral dominates the view as it towers over the town with an impressive spire that seems to reach up to heaven itself.  Colorful buildings dot the hillside down to the wharf.  The town looked very quaint and would be a great place to spend the day exploring—if only the wind wasn’t so strong.  We decided to wait till afternoon in the hopes that the temperature would raise a little and the wind would die down.

A little before noon, we ventured out and walk the short distance to the middle of town.  There are monuments and plaques dedicated to both the Titanic and the Lusitania.  Cobh was the last stop for the Titanic and 123 Irish emigrants boarded the ship for its fateful maiden voyage. 

We visited the Titanic Museum which was located in the original White Star Line’s ticket office.  Instead of regular museum tickets, we were each issued a Titanic boarding ticket with the name of one of the embarking passengers.  We were told that at the end, we would find out of we had survived the sinking, or not.  The museum was very interesting, and included videos of one of the Titanic officers welcoming us on board, and pointing the way to Third Class Steerage (most of the emigrating passengers had booked third class with only three booking first class and seven booking second class).  The museum had a replica of both a third class cabin and a first class cabin (very different cabins of course), as well as menus from both third and first class (again, very different menus).  Overall, I thought the museum, although small, was very well done and very interesting.  At the end, a large plaque listed all the Cobh passengers who embarked and whether they were saved or lost.  My ticket was for Mary Lennon, aged 18, who perished at sea when the Titanic sank. 

After visiting the museum, we walked around the town.  The buildings were colorful, with pots of flowers hanging everywhere.  We took some photos, then made our way back to the ship.  The sun actually felt good when the gusts of wind fell or was blocked by a building, but unfortunately, that wasn’t often.  The wind gusts were strong enough to push you along and you had to brace yourself if you wanted to stop to take a picture. 

We had had enough of the biting wind and hurried back to the relative comfort of the ship, stopping in the piazza for a warming cappuccino for my dad and I and tea for my mom, along with a little snack from the International Café (the tiramisu I had was wonderful).

The dining room menu listed several French dishes (coq a vin, stroganoff, etc.), while the buffet had German food along with all the other options they normally have, so we opted for the buffet once again.  I had sauerbraten, red cabbage, sauerkraut, and spatzle along with zucchini and it was all very good, while my parents had minute steak and baked potatoes along with a little of this and a little of that, and dessert too of course (my dad definitely has a sweet tooth). 

The buffet on this ship is huge, but we find it a little confusing.  Because the buffet is so large, it’s not easy to find where everything is.  The food is laid out in little cross hallways (across the width of the ship) of which there were several, but to get from one cross hallway to another, you had to go lengthwise (up and down the length of the ship).  You almost have to walk the entire buffet going into each cross hallway to see what they had, and then go back to where you started (halfway down the length of the ship) to get to what you saw at the beginning.  While some things were duplicates, others were not, so you never knew if there was something different in one of the cross hallways.  If you started filling your plate at the beginning, then you’d miss out on the offerings at the other end.  To complicate matters, there are no self-serve plates or utensils (due to the on-going health precautions), so you had to go past the first "cross hallway" before you could get to the crewmember who was handing out plates and utensils.  I know a lot of people have said the buffet is much better on this ship than on others, but I’ve found it a little bit confusing.  The food has been alright—typical buffet with some things very good and others just OK.  Here we are, three days into the cruise, and we haven’t gone to the dining room yet.  At some point, I’m sure we’ll go, especially when there is a menu that appeals to us.

Our ship left Cobh while we were having dinner and the captain announced that the swells were projected to be 3 meters (almost 10 feet) on our way to Dublin and that they would try to sail as comfortably as possible (which means they would probably have the stabilizers deployed to minimize the roll). 

We sat around for a little while just talking, then I headed down to order an after dinner cocktail and sat talking with a few folks.  Later, I once again fell asleep to the gentle rocking of the ship.